The Local School Advisory Team (LSAT) is a team of parents, teachers, and a community member who advises the principal. Each DC Public School has an elected LSAT (see DCPS guidelines on LSATs), the role of which is to advise the principal on priorities and goals, allocation of school resources, curriculum options, school culture and policies and procedures.
SWS LSAT Members, 2023-2024
Family Representatives
Carrie Smith (Early Childhood Representative)
Emily Diamond-Falk (Early Childhood Representative)
Kyra DeBlaker-Gebhard (Early Elementary Representative)
Mischa Thompson (Upper Elementary Representative)
Kemba Hendrix (Family IDEA Working Group Representative)
Jamie Arora (Friends of SWS Representative)
Elizabeth Corinth (Outgoing Chair)
Staff Representatives
Jonathan Leavitt (WTU Representative)
Tiffany Reynolds (WTU Representative)
Kenniyia Parson (SPED Representative)
Jere Lorenzen-Strait (Early Childhood Representative)
Amy Wertheimer (Upper Elementary Representative)
TBD (Non-Instructional Staff Representative)
Community Representative
Carol Edwards (Neighbor)
Role & Composition of the LSAT at SWS
At SWS, the LSAT and the Family Committee Chairs meet monthly as the SWS Advisory and Support Team. The main responsibilities of the LSAT are to attend monthly team meetings, advise on the school budget, finances, and strategy and consider long and short term funding needs, and be available to advocate for the school and to support its approach and values with DCPS, City Council, etc.
There are a total of five LSAT elected parent positions. The positions come from each of the Learning Communities, plus an at-large position, so that parent involvement is equally distributed. Parent representatives are elected in the spring and serve the school year. The group also includes a teacher from each learning community (elected by the teachers), a non-instructional school staff member (elected by non-instructional staff), a Family IDEA Working Group representative (appointed by the Family IDEA Working Group), a Friends of SWS representative (appointed by the FSWS Board), and a community member (appointed by elected LSAT members).
Meeting Minutes & Recordings
2022-2023 School Year:
September 19, 2022 – Minutes / Recording
October 18, 2022 – Minutes / Recording
November 15, 2022 – Minutes / Recording
December 12, 2022 – Minutes / Recording
January 24, 2023 – Minutes / Recording
February 15, 2023 – Minutes / Recording / Presentation
February 28, 2023 (special budget meeting) – Minutes / Recording
March 13, 2023 – Minutes / Recording / Survey Results Overview
April 12, 2023 – Minutes / Recording / Survey Results Breakdown (Academic Expectations)
May 16, 2021 – Minutes / Recording
June 20, 2021 – Recording
2021-2022 School Year:
October 4, 2021 – Minutes / Recording
November 1, 2021 – Minutes / Recording
December 6, 2021 – Minutes / Recording
January 10, 2022 – Minutes / Recording
February 7, 2022 – Minutes / Recording
March 7, 2022 – Recording
April 25, 2022 – Recording
May 16, 2022 – Recording
June 13, 2022 – Recording
July 28, 2022 – Recording